Overcoming COVID myths and fears in Malawi

Overcoming COVID myths and fears in Malawi

LILONGWE, Malawi — Healthcare workers in Malawi are concerned that misinformation about COVID-19 is preventing patients in dire need of medical attention not related to the virus, from seeking what could be live-saving treatment.

When Eunice Marorongwe, a senior nurse at a rural hospital in Malawi, received a child patient with a serious leg infection, she was shocked at how her parents could keep her at home for a month, without getting treatment to save her life.

“It was at lunchtime at the end of last year when the 14-year-old girl came to the clinic with her right leg in a very bad state”, she said.

The leg could not stretch and, from the foot to the knee, it was very bad. It had turned into a green color and was producing a very bad smell.

A tree branch pierced through the girl’s right leg, but her parents stayed put at home; not because they saw no need to rush to the hospital for treatment but because of fears and myths surrounding COVID-19.

Festering wound

“By the time